How to Make Your Home Sparkle this Spring with Dish Soap

Helpful Tips from GOCLEANCO founder and CEO Sarah McAllister

No one loves a versatile cleaning product more than me. Using a simple, always-on-hand cleaning product for more than one use is what puts GoCleanCo on the map. And Powdered Tide is not the only cleaning product that we use in alternative ways—Dawn dish soap is another of my favorite products and can be used in many creative and effective ways.

Dawn as a powerful degreaser

Another fantastic way to use Dawn dish soap is in the laundry room. Dawn dish soap is a powerful degreaser if you have any oil-based stains (makeup, cooking oil splatters, butter). It's as simple as squirting some Dawn EZ Squeeze on the stain and letting it sit from 20 minutes up to overnight. Then rinse the spot well and launder as usual.

Dawn as a simple makeup brush cleaner

Be honest — when’s the last time that you cleaned your makeup brushes? Yes, they need to be cleaned, regularly. Fortunately, you don’t have to buy a specialty product for this. You can use Dawn dish soap! Dawn is gentle enough not to damage the delicate hairs on the brushes, and is safe for skin contact, but you do need to rinse well.
Tools:

• Dawn Dish Soap
• Small bowl
• Warm water
• Towel

Instructions: Get your makeup brushes out and lay them on a towel. Fill a small bowl with warm water. Add a few drops of Dawn dish soap (a little goes a very long way!) and swirl your brushes in the solution. Take care to not get the wooden spindle wet — that's why we are dipping! Gently massage the brushes and watch the gunk magically release. Rinse the brushes well with warm water from the tap until the water runs clear (again watch the spindles, don’t get them wet!). Take a towel and blot out any excess water by squeezing with your hand. Lay the brushes on a towel to dry overnight. Once they are fully dry, fluff them up with your hand and you are ready to use them again. (I recommend doing this before bed so your brushes have time to dry before you need to use them again in the morning.)

Dawn as your multi-purpose kitchen cleaner

Dawn has one very obvious use in the kitchen: your tried and true dishwashing workhorse that helps you get through more dishes with less dishwashing liquid. But did you know it could also help you get through kitchen cleanup with fewer bottles to reach for? This classic blue bottle can go a lot farther than you might have thought.

Clean Greasy Kitchen Cabinets

Spring cleanup is a great time to inspect the outside of your kitchen cabinets. You might not give them a close look very often, but when you do you might be surprised to find food splatters, gunk, dust, and general grime from simply existing in the kitchen. Luckily, it doesn’t take a lot of elbow grease to get them looking and feeling fresh again.

First, add a few drops of Dawn to a bowl of warm water and a soft microfiber dishcloth, if you don’t have a microfiber dish cloth, an old ripped up towel will do, you want a cloth with some scrubbing power. You don’t want to use a scouring pad or other abrasives here — they could dull your cabinets!

Next, do a small test on an out-of-site corner before starting to clean in earnest. (We like to test on the underside of the kitchen cabinets, they are also super greasy and a good out of eye shot testing spot). When you’re confident to start cleaning, take your cloth and wipe until all the crud is removed. Keep an eye on your water as it will get dirty and greasy, you may need to make a few batches for your cabinets that are very greasy. If you encounter any really stubborn grease marks, try applying a small dab of Dawn directly to the cloth under warm running water. Continue scrubbing.

Finally, take a fresh damp kitchen rag (with only water on it) to wipe to rinse and remove any excess soap or residue from the cabinets. Et voila — sparkling clean cabinetry just in time for that bright Spring sunshine.

Clean Stainless Steel Appliances

Similar to your cabinets, your appliance might be overdue for a good wipe down. Take a close look and you’ll probably find greasy fingerprints, food splatters, and more. To clean up, simply gather some basic supplies that you probably have on hand: Dawn, a soft sponge, and a paper towel or reusable cloth. Lather the soap on your sponge and squeeze a few times to get some suds going.

Then, clean with the grain. Yep, stainless steel has a grain! You can probably visibly see the lines or feel it when you pass a hand over it. Starting at the top of your fridge, dishwasher, microwave, oven, or whatever it is that you’re cleaning, wash in the direction of the grain until you reach the bottom of the appliance. Don’t use abrasive scrubbies here — you don’t want to damage the stainless steel.

Rinse off the sudsy residue and wipe dry. Make sure it’s really dry — water can leave behind marks and streaks as it evaporates.

Everything Plus the Kitchen Sink

Now that your cabinets and appliances are sparkling clean, what’s left? Well — the kitchen sink, of course! The dishes aren’t done until the kitchen sink is clean, too, but it’s something we can forget in our hurry to wrap up after-dinner chores.

Once the kitchen is free of any dishes, take a few drops of Dawn and your kitchen sponge and work up a lather. Scrub those suds all around the sink. I like to use a toothbrush to get into the small detail areas like around the faucet and the drain — you can get buildup in some of those small areas, make sure you scrub all the way around!

Finally, rinse the sides of the sink and then the bottom. If you don’t have a hose attachment, simply take a cup of water and pour water where you need to rinse. Then rinse the bottom of any remaining residue, wipe dry, and go put your feet up.

We tend to get ahead of ourselves and think we need an arsenal of cleaning products when really, products we have on hand will do the job very well, if not better than something fancy. Dawn has so many alternative uses, and you'll be surprised how safe it is for many household surfaces. (You can even use it to clean the grill.) If you’re dealing with an oil-based stain, Dawn is a great option to help cut the grease. The next time you feel stuck in a cleaning pickle, you may be able to reach for Dawn. The simplest solution is sometimes the most obvious.